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keeping precious cargo safe get on board with the new louisiana?s car safety
law
s by mari walker breaking down the new
law
the regulations keep children from moving to the next level of less-protective restraint too soon. ?the whole intent of the
law
is not to rush the transition of the child into that next level of restraint,?
says
lisa freeman, executive director of the louisiana highway safety commission. ?the
law
requires keeping the child in the more protective category.? babies and toddlers must ride rear- facing until they are at least two years old, and the progression to forward- facing internal harness
seat
s, high-back boosters, booster
seat
s and only using the adult
seat
belt is based on age, height, weight, development and
seat
manufacturers? guidelines. regardless of height or weight, passengers must ride in the back
seat
until they turn 13. to see if your child is ready to switch, complete the five-step safety test: knees bend comfortably at the edge of the
seat
with feet flat on the floor, bottom is all the way back, lap belt lies low on the hips at the top of the thighs, the shoulder belt crosses on the collar bone, and the child can stay
seat
ed like throughout the entire car ride. the new state
law
is based on best practices that were released by the american academy of pediatrics (aap) in august 2018, and gov. john bel edwards signed the
law
in june 2019. ?in less than a year, louisiana was the first state to embrace all of the recommendations of what were best practices,? freeman
says
. ?we are being hailed by national child safety experts as having the best
law
in the country.? the hope is to help save young lives. ?louisiana children are our best assets. our rivers and streams and cajun cuisine, all that?s great, but it?s our children who are our most prized asset,? freeman
says
. convincing kid passengers baton rouge mom jill walker
says
her children will ride rear-facing until they?re four. ?the
law
for me just reinforced something i?m very passionate about and was a step forward in progress for car
seat
safety,? she
says
. walker
says
it gives her a stronger argument with her six year old who wants to switch to a booster before outgrowing his current
seat
. ?it?s no longer going to be that you?re the only one with a big kid in the booster,?
says
amy waters, child passenger safety technician with baton rouge car
seat
safety, llc. ?you have the
law
behind you saying this is why i do this. not only the booster but really the back
seat
law
.? freeman notes that children?s developing bodies are much more vulnerable than adults?, and in the event of a crash, the back
seat
is the safest place for any passenger. compliance expected freeman expects that caregivers will want to comply with the new
law
. ?people in my profession, they would much rather go the route of deterrence,? she
says
. ?it?s not anybody?s intention to cite caregivers for violations, just compliance.? waters
says
she hopes the new
law
will lead to training school staff who run carpool, not to police families or enforce from the initial click of buckling up our newborn on that first ride home until we eventually hand that baby the keys to drive the car, we as parents only want to keep our kids safe as passengers. the leading cause of death for louisiana children is motor vehicle crashes, and the proper use of child safety
seat
s and
seat
belts can reduce that risk. this summer, state legislators unanimously passed changes to child car
seat
requirements to keep children safer and ultimately reduce the number of deaths. the new
law
went into effect august 1. 6 2 b r p a r e n t s . c o m | s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9
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